


Entropy

by lalablue0



Series: 413am [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, Gen, Hurt Jason Todd, WTF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 22:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30045873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalablue0/pseuds/lalablue0
Summary: Talia takes Jason to her father. Ra's locks Jason away.Jason ponders his very existence.Entropy /ˈentrəpē/ noun - lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder
Series: 413am [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017310
Comments: 13
Kudos: 37





	Entropy

**Author's Note:**

> First off, thank you for your patience. If you have been reading from the beginning and stuck with me this long, hopefully I will have piqued your interest with where exactly I am going with this story. I have plotted approximately ten more chapters before we get to the end. Yes, there will be an end. I have actually written the last few paragraphs in preparation for that end. 
> 
> In the meanwhile, I present to you a dialog heavy exposition piece.

~

“I told you to bring me the infant, not this pestilence,” Ra’s al Ghul hissed. 

Talia dragged Jason into the sparring room where her father practiced. Talia had handcuffed him behind his back. Double locked to ensure he couldn’t pick it. As Jason scanned his surroundings, a League assassin came from behind him and bound his ankles with nylon zip ties, hobbling him. 

“He died and was returned without the help of the Lazarus waters,” Talia defended. She kicked Jason behind the knees and he dropped to the ground. Jason glared up at her.

Ra’s cocked his head and stepped closer to the young man. Jason held his steely gaze as Ra’s began to examine him more closely. Ra’s thumbed his cheek where the scar used to be. He ran his fingers through his hair. Ra’s pushed Jason flat on the floor and pulled up his t-shirt. 

“How? How is this possible? You were returned and yet you bear no marks from your previous life? The effects of the Lazarus waters remain within you. Tell me your secret.”

Jason scoffed. He could feel Ra’s rancid breath against his ear. He could feel him inhaling against his skin. He felt the hair raise on the back of his neck. If his hands weren’t bound, he could push him away with one of his patented wiseass remarks. As it was, Jason could only sneer at the man. 

“You can resist, but I will learn your secret,” Ra’s grabbed a handful of Jason’s hair and dragged him away. “I could never explain your resurrection the first time. I will not allow your secret to go undiscovered again.”

Ra’s dragged him through corridors and down stone steps. Jason was powerless to stop him. His hands and feet were bound. He flailed like a fish out water trying to get Ra’s to release the death grip on his locks. Oh how he was wishing he kept his hair shorter. Talia had stripped him of all his weaponry and lock pick tools. All his defenses were gone. He was thrown unceremoniously into a room and the door closed and locked. 

A small barred window sat three feet above his head. It illuminated the small barren room. The hard stone walls absorbed the heat of the desert sun, turning it into an oven. The room was empty save for a small metal bucket in the corner. 

He was alone. 

  
  


~

  
  


“You have five days. No more. No less. Clear?”

“Clear.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“You know me. I have to try.”

“Yeah, I know you. Good luck. You’re gonna need it.”

He hiked the backpack up higher over his shoulder and set off to complete his mission. 

  
  
  


~

  
  


This is the third sunset. No one has come to his room once since Ra’s threw him in here. Jason managed to get his bound hands in front of him. The hard steel cuffs chafed and pinched his skin. He used the rough metal links of his cuffs to break the nylon zip ties that bound his ankles. That was the night of the first sunset. He’d been pacing the small room since. 

He shook his head as he let himself slide down the wall. He could go a long time with no food, but water? In the desert. He needed water to survive the desert. His head was spinning and the last time he urinated was at sunset yesterday. Another sign of dehydration was the lack of sweat he was well aware that he should be producing. The room warmed increasingly throughout the day. Once the sun had set though, he shivered.

He thought that Ra’s expected him to die in hopes that whatever returned him would do it again. Death explained once that they didn’t decide who goes back. They just kept him company until they could facilitate the return. He wouldn’t ever be able to explain that to Ra’s. He didn’t know who made the decision or why he was allowed a reprieve. He doesn’t know why this time he seemed to be fractured into two. 

If he died again so soon after coming back, would he be resurrected again? Would the powers that be finally say ‘forget this’ and just let him stay dead? Maybe that would be best. Let the kid take his place. It would seem that the family was rather happy with the child. They obviously cared for him. They threw Dickhead out of his room to make way for a nursery. Even Demon Spawn seemed to like the baby. If he died here in the desert, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe Death had meant to only send the baby back and this was the universe's way of correcting the error of his return. 

Maybe he would see the sunrise once more. 

  
  
  


~

  
  


He had spent years training all over the world. He’d forgotten more skills then he remembered. Most of the criminals he faced fought like backyard brawlers, not the elitely trained sparring partners that he crafted his skills against. He trained with the best to be the best. The league may have been elite, but he was better. 

He roamed the corridors easily and without confrontation. He knew he didn’t have much time. He was going against every instinct he had that screamed at him to turn back, danger ahead. This is what he trained for. This was him being brave. Or stupid. That was still undecided. 

He snatched the key ring without making a sound. Three keys on the ring. First key opens the dungeon entrance. Second key opens the cell. Last key unlocks the handcuffs. He’d prepared for this. He knew where the League’s members were. He knew how to time his movements without being seen. 

Jason is much too pale and his glassy eyed stare seemed to penetrate him to his very soul. He pulled out his water bladder and brought it to Jason’s parched lips. The first drops dribbled down his chin before he greedily began to gulp it down. He had to pull the bladder away to keep Jason from finishing it off. 

“More. M-more,” Jason’s voice croaked. 

“I’m sorry. I can’t give you more yet. Drinking too much too fast will cause you to vomit. You’re already dehydrated,” he replied, empathetically. 

Jason placed his right hand on his shoulder; his left having come along for the ride. He knew what was coming and still didn’t brace for it. He knew Jason was capable of hitting harder than that. Still didn’t stop him from rubbing at his sore jaw. 

“Hey, I’m trying to rescue you here.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

He didn’t answer. He unlocked the cuffs quickly and placed Jason’s arm over his shoulder and pulled the weakened man up off the floor. Jason groaned softly. 

He had no backup or support, so if he screwed up the extraction there was no one to help him. Jason’s safe return to Gotham was his mission. He could smell the cooler night air. They just had to make it outside. 

“You’re good. You got further than any before you.”

The exit was blocked by Ra’s. He drew his sword and smiled. “I’d like to know who trained you so that I may kill them too. No one has dared come -“

He hated monologuing. His mask hid his eye roll. He threw the dagger and its aim was true. Ra’s never saw it coming. The wound would be fatal unless he got to a Lazarus bath quickly. He was able to walk Jason right past. 

He pushed the button on the key fob in his pocket. The cloaked aerial transport became visible and a rope ladder lowered down toward the ground. He grabbed hold of the ladder with one hand and gripped Jason tightly with the other. 

Nothing the League could throw at them could reach or do any damage. He completed the hardest part of his mission. He rescued Jason from Ra’s. Once he was safely back in Gotham, he could complete the other part of his mission. 

He was going to kill Jason Todd. 

  
  
  
  


~

  
  
  


Jason felt like his head may very well explode. There was too much pressure building up in his skull. Did he die again?

He realized that he was lying prone and he had an IV in his arm. His mind felt foggy, not just from the migraine. He tried to triage his injuries and his surroundings before opening his eyes. His mouth and throat were dry. Wait. Wait? Wasn’t he in the desert? … Right. He let Talia take him to Nanda Parbat. He wasn’t there anymore. Where was he? He cracked an eye open and immediately closed it as it was much too bright and his head still felt ready to burst. 

There was a low continuous hum, like that of the airplane. He felt the vibrations from the powerful jet engines pulse throughout his body. He was rescued. He vaguely remembered a masked man. Maybe he was one of B’s or maybe he was with some other organization, like Argus. 

Maybe everything was a hallucination and he was being medevaced to a medical facility. 

Maybe he should just go back to sleep. Figure it out when he wakes up. If he wakes up. If he can fall back to sleep.  _ Whomever is speaking - please shut up. _

Between the dull roar of the engines and the droning speech ever present in his ears, he felt himself starting drift. Maybe if he was really lucky, when he woke next, he’d find out the last month had been nothing but a really shitty dream. 

  
  
  
  


~

  
  


“I know you’re awake, man. Might as well get up and have some water. I know you gotta be thirsty.”

Jason swallowed as best he could. His mouth felt like sandpaper. A drink would be nice. His head still felt like it was overfilled and the idea of opening his eyes made him nauseous. Jason slowly cracked his left eye. He wasn't on the plane anymore. He recognized his surroundings as one of his safehouses. It was nighttime and the only illumination came from a small lamp in the corner. 

“What the fu-? How’d you find this place?” Jason asked. He sat up slowly and winced. Dehydration was no joke. Recovery was much too slow for his liking. 

“I wanted to make sure that you could recover in a place that was familiar. Your brothers’ have already searched the place. They didn’t take much. Probably because it was mostly guns and ammo. All your leather is gone. Wonder if they’re going to keep for when you grow up again.”

Jason paused as stared at the rambling man sitting in his recliner. He scrubbed the palm of his hands against his eyes. The sight before him remained unchanged. He shook his head and only succeeded in making his head spin. 

“Look. I get that you’re confused.”

Jason stood on unsteady legs and accepted the bottled water the other man offered him. 

“Confused,” Jason shrugged, “It’s par for the course lately. Can’t wait to find out your story.”

He sat back in the recliner and brought his legs up under him. 

“Not much of a story. Multiverse,” he stated like that explained everything. To Jason, it was enough. 

“So what, B sent you to Earth, whatever number we are, to rescue me?” Jason chugged back the water. 

He hung his head and shook his head minutely. “Nah. My dad died a few years back.”

Jason stopped drinking from the water bottle. His eyes widened and he frantically searched his brain for the appropriate response to finding out his father was dead on another Earth. 

“It’s okay. Like I said, it’s been a few years.”

Jason looked at the man in front of him. His life was weird, man. He was sitting in one of his safehouse's talking to another’s Earth’s version of himself. One whose life would have been dramatically different from his. He lost Bruce. In a way they both had. Obviously this version did a better job with that loss then he had. 

“So what brings you to my Earth? I mean, I highly doubt you’re here just to save me from Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s is just going to come after the baby again,” Jason reasoned. 

“Not for a while. I got him with an athame through the eye. Even with a Lazarus bath, it will still be a while for the brain damage to resolve enough for him to go after the baby again.”

Jason looked at the other Jason. The headache was still clouding his thoughts. 

“I’ll try to explain as best as I can. What it comes down to is this, Destiny screwed up. When she brought you back, she split your soul. Effectively binding your fate to that of the child. And visa versa. She didn’t realize that by duplicating your soul, she shifted a cosmic balance. There were now two Jason Todd’s in the world, the same in every way but age,” he took a deep breath and scrubbed his hand down his face as he seemed to mentally prepare himself for what he would say next. “I don’t know all the details but I can tell you this. He needs to be prepared for what’s coming.”

“What’s coming?”

He sighed heavily. “The end.”

Jason felt his throat constrict. “The end of what?”

“The multiverse. Your rebirth seemed to have triggered the start of the apocalypse.”

Jason felt the air leave his lungs and his vision swam. This was way too much for him. How could he be responsible for the apocalypse? He wanted to ask all the questions at once, but all his mouth could utter was an unintelligible sequence of vowels. 

“Yeah. It’s a lot to unpack. If you need a minute…?” He gestured toward the doorway.

Jason continued to struggle to find a place to start. Finally he arrived at, “What do you need me to do to prevent that from happening?”

He looked at him with a look he didn’t recognize. On someone else’s face, he may have been able to read what they were thinking. This Jason may have avoided a dunk in a Lazarus bath; he bore no white forelock or green tinted eyes. But he had a few scars that signified a life hard lived. Jason found himself trying to mimic the others face to see if he could sense what he was feeling. He felt a sense of pity. 

“You were Robin. You stood in front of bad guys night after night, almost getting killed on countless occasions. You shielded your birth mother from a bomb even after she sold you out the man that would kill you. You let yourself be taken by Talia knowing that Ra’s would likely kill you. You would gladly give your life if I told you it would stop anything,” he bit his lower lip, “Is it that you care so much for others or so little about yourself?”

“Does it matter?”

“It should.”

“It doesn’t. If giving my life won’t stop the apocalypse, what will?”

“I don’t know if it can be stopped.”

“Then why bother saving me from Ra’s? If I can’t stop it, why bother even telling me about it. Man, I wouldn’t mind not knowing this life altering information.” Jason was angry. 

“I tried that already. You get mad when I don’t tell you.”

Jason cocked his head at the unusual statement. Realization dawned on him, they’d done this before. 

“This is my Groundhogs day. Er- week. I rescue you from Ra’s, nurse you back to health and tell you that the apocalypse is coming. In time, it ends. Then I rescue you and around we go again. I don’t know how to stop it. Neither do you. But it happens. Every time.”

“How many times?” Jason asked softly.

He bowed his head and replied just as quietly, “This is my four hundred and thirteenth go around.”

“Shit, man. You’ve rescued me four hundred and thirteen times?”

“Well, no. The first few times, I didn’t know what my mission was.”

Jason cocked his head and gestured for him to continue. 

“I don’t know how to explain it. I was pulled through a portal and I ended up on an airfield in Wisconsin. A week later the portal opens again and I end at the same airfield. Sometimes we die during the rescue attempt or for one reason or another and there is no portal, I just reappear on the tarmac.”

“What were you doing when the portal first opened?”

“Just came in from a late patrol with Batman and -.”   
  


“You said Bruce died?”

He nodded solemnly. “He did. Uh, Damian is my Batman. I’m his Robin. Was. Was his Robin,” he took a deep breath and was about to continue.

“Wait? Batman is twelve year old Damian?”

“In my world, Damian is twenty-four,” he said with a wry chuckle. 

Jason tried to think of what the demon spawn would be like as an adult. A multitude of thoughts crossed his mind and each were more exaggerated than the one before. 

“Anyway, we returned to the cave and we got an alert on the computer that something was happening on a global scale. Everything around me was turning black. Ahki was swallowed by it,” he said in an almost whisper. “and next thing I know, a portal opened up behind me and pulled me through.”

“Do you think your Earth is gone?” Jason asked.

“I can’t seem to get back,” he shrugged, “So, probably, yeah,” his voices broke.

“When is the end supposed to happen?”

“On your thirty third birthday. At  **4:13am.** ”

Jason considered the man before him. “What is with that number?”

“It’s the time we were born. Six weeks early, during a hurricane,” he said with a small smile. He looked up at Jason and shook his head. “I don’t know the significance beyond that. I know that was also the time of your rebirth.”

Jason quickly did some math in his head. This Jason. He has spent seven plus years in his loop. Depending on how many times they had died before, at least seven years. Which likely meant that this Jason was only thirteen when his loop started. Jason inhaled deeply as he realized a fundamental truth. 

“You’re the kid? That's why you know what's going to happen.”

“This is the longest it’s taken you to figured it out.”

“It’s all my fault.”

“No. Not your fault.”

“Yes, it is. I’m the one who told Death I wished I could start over.”

“You deserved to start over.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, You do. You do. You have to. I can’t exist without you. That’s why you have to start over. Leave the name Jason Todd and the Red Hood persona behind and begin again. Disappear. Make something of yourself. Spend the next thirteen years happy and doing something you love. The end comes. It will always come. Maybe we aren’t meant to stop it.”

Jason shook his head. “If we - or, I can’t stop it… you remain in this loop. I’m sorry kid, I can’t have that hanging over me.”

“You won’t remember.”

Jason tried to wrap his head around this. He tried to think of any scenario in which he could break the kid’s loop. He tried to think of how he was supposed to stop the end. He tried to think of how he could make himself remember. The pressure inside his head felt like it was building back up. He grabbed the water bottle and began to sip. 

“Jason Todd. The Red Hood. They’re dead. Jason Wayne is alive and well. I had the life that you deserved. You can have the life that you choose,” he said gently as he rose from his seat. He bent down in front of the television set.He removed a floor board and then another, and revealed a backpack. One of Jason’s go bags. Cash, weapons, fake ID’s. 

“Ra’s won’t come after me again for a while. The JLA will keep me safe. Our family - will keep us safe.”

“You’re talking like you’re leaving?”

“Dehydration recovery time sucks.”

Jason’s eyes widened, “It’s the seventh day?”

“I can’t tell you what to do. I know what I experienced. I know how it affects you. Think about what I said.”

“You can’t go. I have more questions," Jason said, incredulously. 

A small churning of air was the only indication something was about to happen when a large void suddenly appeared behind him. 

“Say ‘Hi’ to Mama for me,” he said before the void swallowed him. 

Jason blinked multiple times. He knocked on the side of his head with the palm of his hand. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He felt the tears welling in his eyes but no matter how much he tried to scrub them away, his vision kept going bleary. When he said that this was a lot to unpack, he wasn’t kidding. Who the hell is ‘Mama’?

  
  
~


End file.
